I work from a client-centered, strength-based approach and draw from principals including: expressive play, art, movement, mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral therapy, solution-focused and dialectical behavior therapy. 

I completed my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and my Master of Education in School Counselling (K-12) from the University of Missouri – Saint Louis (UMSL). 

As a graduate candidate, I was employed as an Academic Advisor and Transfer Liaison to adult learners at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) where I also interned as a counsellor for Running Start high school students simultaneously completing their high school diploma and associate degree at SWIC. 

I later interned at Metro Academic & Classical High School (grades 9-12) in Saint Louis, MO where I met with students individually and in group settings on a weekly basis to address and maintain social-emotional, academic, and career-related challenges and enrichment. This unique experience allowed me to work with gifted students in a diverse, public school atmosphere. I designed and ran groups to manage high levels of stress and anxiety and low mood. Students reported having more strategies and a greater ability to self-regulate at the end of our group.

I completed coursework in Introduction to Play Therapy with Chris Turner (RPT-S) and Advanced Play Therapy with Stephanie Williams (RPT-S). This experiential coursework guided me to my second internship at Discovery Ridge Elementary (grades K-5) where I used non-directive and directive play therapy with students to improve: behavioral, self-regulatory, friendship, family, stress/anxiety, and low mood concerns.

I soon volunteered as a Youth Development Facilitator under the Children, Youth, and Family sector in the Philippines with the United States Peace Corps. 

From the Philippines I moved to gorgeous Victoria, BC and completed a 200-hour trauma informed yoga teacher certification to continue broadening my knowledge and techniques for mindfulness, mind-body connection and regulation. I have volunteered and worked in a multitude of settings and continue to use movement/yoga techniques with children and youth. I worked in community mental health and as a contract counsellor in private practice before opening an office to serve children and their families in February of 2023. 

I continue to study and have completed the Synergetic Play Therapy Certification Program and am in the process of completing Rainbow Kid's Yoga Level I. 

I am so excited to meet you, and I welcome your questions.